AMSTERDAM.- Galerie Ron Mandos will present Hlanganani (“Unite”), a new exhibition by South African visual activist Prof. Sir Zanele Muholi, opening Saturday 12 September 2026. Presented together with the Muholi Art Institute, the exhibition marks twenty years since Muholi began Faces and Phases and brings together self-portraits, recent paintings, and a new body of Faces and Phases portraits made with Amsterdam’s Black queer community. On view through Saturday, 1 November 2026.

Zanele Muholi (b. 1972, Umlazi, Durban) is an internationally recognized visual activist and photographer, known for a body of work that documents and celebrates the lives of South Africa’s Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities. Since 2006, Muholi’s practice has grown into one of the most significant visual archives of Black LGBTQIA+ life anywhere in the world.

“It is important to mark, map and preserve our mo(ve)ments through visual histories for reference and posterity, so that future generations will note that we were here.” — Zanele Muholi





At its center, this exhibition is an act of activism. For twenty years, Muholi has documented Pride marches and queer communities around the world, insisting on the visibility of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex lives. That work continues beyond the gallery through the Muholi Art Institute (MAI), which Muholi founded in Cape Town in 2021 to advance art education, community outreach and youth development. MAI’s educational programme underpins the public activities accompanying this exhibition: for Muholi, education on Pride and queer visibility is not a single day or season, but a 365-day commitment.

The exhibition opens with a selection of self-portraits from Somnyama Ngonyama (“Hail the Dark Lioness”, 2012–ongoing). Made largely while Muholi is travelling for exhibitions and residenc